Back to Oahu: Bellows and Diamond Head

After our month long trip to the mainland, we were happy to be back on our "land", as Tristan would say.  It was nice not to have to live out of our suitcases anymore and we were excited to get back to the beach and play.    

Betsy is such a brave girl to ride these waves by herself.  You can still see a little fear in her face, but she's so happy after the wave is done.

This is how they were feeling after their surf sesh with dad.  

That first weekend we were back, we hiked the Diamond Head trail.  This was actually the first time we've done this hike, and lets just say that we will just check it off our bucket list and say we did it.  We don't really have a desire to do it again.  The day was really really muggy.  Dead air and hot!  Betsy was not interested in walking on her own, lovely.  I carried her on my hip the whole way up and most of the way down.  The trail was very crowded as well.  Bus loads of people decided to hike Diamond Head the same day as us.  What are the chances?      

Half way point.

These narrow, steep stairs made me nervous.  I feared that one person's tired legs would give out and they would take everyone out while tumbling down.  I made sure I held on tight!

And we made it!  

This is Betsy's attempt at taking a picture.  I love seeing things from their point of view.

Of course the view makes everything worth it!  Beautiful Honolulu:

Homer's wedding in DC/Virginia

Courtney and Dustin got married and we were so excited to be there for their special day!  We were also excited because this was the first time in almost 5 years we have been alone without kids.  We need to do trips like these more often.  It was a ton of fun.

We flew into DC late Thursday night.  Friday morning we lagged a little, ate some breakfast at the hotel, met up at Courtney's apartment for a hair trial run while the boys finished building a stand for the reception.  We had about 3 hours on Friday afternoon to sight-see.  We headed over to the Museum of Natural History with Christian's parents.  Wish we could have squeezed more in, but we wanted to take our time instead of rushing from museum to museum.

Since this was our first time without the kids, we have a lot more pictures of ourselves.  Kind of weird and awkward for us.

We took a picture in front of this guy to show Tristan because he loved the "Night at the Museum" movie.  

Iwo Jima Memorial.  This was gi-normous.  Very cool.

These two lovelies got married.  We are so happy for the Homers!

Right next to the reception building, we found this amazing bed of bright fall leaves.  And the sun was hitting the trees just right.  We kind of disappeared for a little and enjoyed these autumn leaves.

You don't see these things on Oahu!

The reception hall was darling!  Courtney and her friends did such a good job planning.  Christian may look awkward here but he was really enjoying himself.

I know I'm weird but I had to take a picture of this bathroom door knob to show Christian how cute they were.  I kind of wanted to take them home with me.

It was a beautiful reception!  Loved the food, the cake, the music, and the heart-felt toasts.  What a perfect way to celebrate their marriage.  After the party, some of us slipped out to go visit the monuments while they were lit up.  I'm so glad we did this at night, however I do remember being really really cold.  I mean really cold.  The only other times my body was exposed to this kind of cold in the last few years was in the produce freezers at Costco.  It was kind of a shock and I don't think I was prepared with warm enough clothes.  I'm being dramatic, I know, but it was cold.  

This is one of those trips I wish we could experience again.  I wish it were longer, but I felt bad leaving the kids with my parents too long.  I know what a handful they are!  

Congratulations Homers!

Tom's Farm

During our visits in CA we usually take a trip out to Tom's Farm in Corona to meet up with my Grandma (Dad's mom).  I have very fond memories with grandma Flo.  I used to have a really hard time sleeping at night when I was a little girl, and whenever grandma was in town, or we were visiting her and grandpa, I used to always request that she would share a bed with me. (even if it meant stealing her from my Grandpa).  Grandma reads books until all hours of the night.  I'm not kidding, until like 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning.  It was so comforting to have her be right next to me, awake all night!, watching out for me.  Grandma was a reader!  Fun to talk to.  She knew everything!  She was also very active her whole life.  What high school kid could say that their grandma gave them dolphin rides in the pool?  She was famous for those.  

It's always fun visiting with this lady.  Plus, the kids love her!  She has goody bags for them every time we meet up!  

Betsy's favorite ride in the whole wide world.  But when it was my turn to ride with her, she wouldn't let me stand any closer to her than this:

Bear has an obsession with animals.

 The last couple of times we've been here, Tristan wasn't old enough to ride on the trackers.  This was a big day for him!

Feeling cool:

Train ride with Chelcie and cute Leo: